Holder for superposed business forms



Nov. 25, 1969 L. s. GARBER HOLDER FOR SUPERPOSED BUSINESS FORMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 24, 1967 1N VENTOR ATToRN s 1969 s. GARBER HOLDER FOR SUPERPOSED BUSINESS FORMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 24, 1967 INVENTOR ATTORNEY-.5

1 United States Patent Olhce 3,480,298 Patented Nov. 25 1969 3,480,298 FOR SUPERIOSED BUSINESS FORMS Lila S. Gather," 33 East End Ave.,

New York, N.Y. 10028 Filed Oct. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 677,683

' Int. Cl. B42d /00; B42f 1/00, B431 5/02 US. Cl. 28229 a I 1 Claim f HOLDER ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A business form holder is provided with upper and lower clamps for superposed forms.'A,lifting knob on the lower clamp can be raised to lift both clamps together to release all forms. A portion of the knob overlies and is spaced above upper clamp, Slight raising of the upper clamp releases the upper form. Further raising lifts the knob to lift the lower clamp. A lever 'plate extends fromthe upper clamp to permit opening of the clamp with the same hand that holds the form holder. Both clamps are hinged on a common pintle mounted in hinge knuckles formed from tongues extending from the edges of the form receiving plate and the clamps. Coil springs surrounding the pintle bias the clamps to the closed position.

This invention relates to a holder for superposed business forms which may have carbon paper or equivalent therebetween and more particularly to a form holder hav. ing a lower clamp and an upper clamp for holding lower and upper forms, respectively, the clamps of which can be opened together if desired for easy removal of both forms, or alternatively in which the upperclamp only can be lifted for alignment of the top form relative to the lower form. 1

' There are many instances in which it is desirable to. make multiple notations of the same transaction. For example, in double-entry bookkeeping systemsit is desirable to maintain a journal showing transactions and separate accounts for each customer. Successive transactions should be recorded on successive lines on each record. If carbon paper is used to make both entries at the same time, the lines of journal and the account cards upon which itis desired to have the/notations appearmust be brought into alignment. Priorart form holders have been proposed to facilitate su'ch' alignment. Exemplary devices are disclosed in Patents Nos. 2,648,547 and 2,665,924, issued to A. J. Bickel and Patent No. 2,655,390, issued to W. A. Brucker.

Such form holders should be simple to operate, and the, operation should be readily apparent to users so that little or no instruction need be given..

Ease of alignment of the appropriate lines on the upper and lower forms is important. In some prior art devices, the form holder must be set down on a table and perhaps even held in position in order to operate the clamp. After the clamp is opened, the forms mustbe inserted and aligned. In some cases, both hands may be required to operate spring-biased clips. Insertion and alignment of the forms may then be quite diflicult.

Some prior art clamps used with such form holders are of large size ..and heavy. This bulk and weight makes it more difiicult to carry this device and use it in restricted quarters as, for examplegwhen taking inventory.

The complexity of prior art devices may make them less reliable in operation and more expensive to manufacture.

Summary of the invention Briefly stated the present invention includes a holder for superposed business forms which includes a form receiving plate having upper and lower clamps hinged on a common pintle pin which is spaced above the left-hand edge of the form receiving plate and has a number of coil springs fixed thereto to bias the clamps to the closed position. The upper clamp includes a lever plate which extends beyond the pintle pin so that it may be depressed to open the upper clamp by the same hand which holds the device. A knob on the lower clamp has a flange which is spaced from and overlies the upper clamp so that the upper clamp may be opened alone by a limited pivotal movement, or pivoted further to open the lower clamp. If desired, the form receiving plate may have a cover plate pivoted to its right-hand edge to cover the forms and provide a larger writing surface.

Objects of the invention Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of a device which is simple to operate, and which may be used with little or no instruction.

A further object is the provision of a device of minimum size and weight and which is convenient to use.

A further object is to provide a device, the clamps of which may be operated by the same hand that holds the board so as to leave the other hand free to insert and align the forms.

A still further object is to provide a device in which the upper clamp may be opened by the same hand that holds the device, without opening the lower clamp, or, alternatively, in which the upper and lower clamps can be opened together with the same hand.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device, some of the parts being partially broken away;

FIG. 2, an end view of the device;

FIG. 3, a side view of the device;

FIG. 4, a plan view of the device with the cover plate in a folded position;

FIG. 5, a section on the line 55 of FIG. 1 showing' both clamps in clamping position and an upper form superposed upon a lower form;

FIG. 6, a section on the line 55 of FIG. 1 showing in full lines the upper clamp in open position, and in hidden lines showing both clamps opened together by a force acting upon .a lever on the upper clamp; and,

FIG. 7, a section on the line-55 of FIG. 1 showing both clamps open together by application of a lifting force on the lifting knob. 1

Briefly stated these and other objects are accomplished by providing a holder for "superposed business forms which includes a form receiving plate 10, a lower clamp 12 normally biased to the closed position, an upper clamp 14, a lifting knob 16 fixed to lower clamp, 12 for lifting both clamps together, and a lever plate 18 fixed to the:

; upper clamp 14 for either opening the upper clamp alone by a limited pivotal movement, or for opening the upper and the lower clamps successively by depressing the clamp sufiiciently to bring the upper clamp into engagement with the flange 20 of the lifting knob 16 to lift the lower clamp. If desired the form receiving plate mayhave a cover plate 22 pivoted to its sideedge opposite the clamps to cover the forms and provide a largerwriting surface.

The form receiving plate 10 is formed of a unitary' metal sheet bent upwardly along its left side to provide a bottom portion 23 and a flange 24. Tongues 26 on the right side of plate 10 are bent to form hinge knuckles 27. The cover plate 22 is formed of similar sheet metal and has tongues 28 projecting from its right side to form hinge knuckles 29. The knuckles 27 and 29 fit together to receive pintle pin 30. The lower sides of form receiving plate and cover plate 22 may be coated in any desired fashion, For example, fabric pieces 32' and 33,

having a grain finish or other esthetically pleasing texture, might be glued thereto. The upper surfaces 35 and 36 of form receiving plate 10 and cover plate 22, respectively, are smooth to provide a writing surface. A stop block 38 is fixed to the form receiving plate 10 at its upper surface and is in abutment with flange 24. Alternatively painted, chemical, organic, anodic or other coat' ings could be used on either or both sides.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the lower clamp 12 includes a sheet metal plate 40 having tongues 42 on its right side bent into hinge knuckles 43. A pintle pin 44 is mountedwithin the knuckles 43 and knuckles 45 on the flange 24. Coil springs 46 have one end 47 in engagement with the outer side of flange 24 and their other end 48 in engagement with the upper side of sheet metal plate 40 to bias the clamp. A transparent plastic member 50 maybe secured to the lower surface of sheet metal plate 40 by rivets 52 and if so serves as the end of lower clamp 12 so that printing under the clamps may be read.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the upper clamp 14 is formed of a lower sheet metal plate 60 having a downwardly pro jecting flange 62 on its left side. Tongues 64 extend from flange 62 and are bent to form hinge knuckle 65 which also surrounds pintle pin 44. Coil springs 68 surround pintle pin 44 and have one end 69 in engagement with the outer surface of flange 24 and the other end 70 engaging the lower surface of flange 62 to normally bias upper clamp 14 to closed position. A transparent plastic sheet member 72 may be secured to plate 60 by rivets 73 and extends beyond transparent plastic sheet member 50 of the lower clamp. Alternatively, a plurality of spaced clamping fingers as disclosed in Bickel Patent 2,665,924 could extend from the clamp edges in place of the transparent plastic members 50 and 72.

Lever plate 18 is secured to sheet metal plate 60 and plastic member 72 by the rivets 73. Lever plate 18 has its right side 75 bent downwardly to form an extension which projects beyond hinge pintle pin 44. A fabric sheet 75 similar to fabric sheets 32 and 33 may cover the top of lever plate 18.

Lifting knob 16 is secured to the lower clamps sheet metal plate 40 by a screw 76. The knob includes a post portion 78 and a flange portion which overlies the lever plate 18 and is spaced above it when upper clamp 14 is in the closed position.

In operation cover plate 22 is moved to the open position and upper and lower clamps 12 and 14 are opened either by lifting knob 16 or by depression of lever plate 18. A lower business form such as journal sheet 80 is inserted beneath lower clamp 12, its left edge engaging guide or stop block 38. Transaction indicia 82 can now be seen through transparent plastic plates 50 and 72.

The lower clamp plate 12 is now released and the upper clamp 14 is held open by depressing lever. plate 18. An upper business form such as account card 84 is slid beneath theupper clamp 14 and its left edge is brought into abutment with the right edge of the lower clamps transparent plastic plate 50. Indicia 82 on the journal sheet are now visible through transparent plastic plates 50 and 72. 4

Assume that journal sheet 80 has been filled through the 12th transaction line and account card 84 has been filled through the third transaction line. Accordingly, line 4 bearing the numeral 4 of account card 84 is in line with the line bearing the numeral 13 of journal sheet 80. The upper clamp is now closed and appropriate notations are made.

'On the completion of the notations, the account card is removed and a new account card is inserted. Upon completion of'the journal sheet, both eiarap's'are opened by lifting knob 16 or fully depressing lever plate 18 and both journal sheet and account card are removed.

It will be apparent that a business forms holder is provided which permits alignment and holding of an upper form superposed relative to a lower form, which has upper and lower clamps which can be successively opened with a single hand action and permits simultaneous removal of the business forms. The device is of simple construction, convenient to use, reliable, and economical to manufacture.

What is claimed is:

1. A holder for superposed business forms comprising a generally flat base, elongated hinge means located along one side of said base, first and second clamping members mounted on said hinge means for swinging movement relative to said base, said clamping members extending substantially the entire length of the side of said base with said second clamping member spaced above said first clamping member, said first clamping member ex-- tending longitudinally along said hinge means beyond one end of said second clamping member, each of said clamping members having a transparent portion extending substantially the full length thereof parallel with said hinge means and defining the edge opposite said hinge means, said transparent portions permitting full unobstructed vision of the business forms clamped thereunder, part of the upper surface of the transparent porsaid knob will raise said clamping member substantially.

tion of said first clamping member normally being located closely adjacent to the lower surface of the transparent portion of said second clamping member, spring means carried by said hinge means and engageable with said fist and second clamping members for urging the transparent portions toward said base, said second clamping member having an operating portion disposed laterally beyondsaid hinge means on the side remote from said transparent portion, said operating portion extending substantially the full length of said second clamping membet, a knob mounted on the longitudinally extending portion of said first clamping member, said knob having a head adapted to partially overlie said second clamping member in vertically spaced relation thereto and adapted to engage said second clamping member after the second member has been moved upwardly a predetermined distance, whereby downward movement of said operating portion will raise said clamping member sequentially out of engagement with'said base and upward movement of simultaneously.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JEROMEHSCHNALL, Primary Examiner US. 01. X.R. 

